Thursday, August 30, 2012

A naval ship was going along in the
middle of a dark night, when one of the lookouts calls the captain
and says, “Captain, there's a light, dead ahead.”

The Captain radioed back to the lookout
and said, “Signal them to change their course.”

The lookout replied, “Captain, they
said for us to
change course, 20 degrees.” The captain replied, “Tell them I'm a
captain, and I told them to change their course.”

A few minutes later, the lookout responded, “Captain, he signaled
back and and he said he is just a petty officer, but that we should
change course.”

The Captain, by this time furious, told the signalman to relay to
them that they are a U.S. Ship, and he is a Captain, and he is
ordering them to change course immediately!

The signalman received another message from the mere petty officer
which said, “I am at a lighthouse, and you should change course 20
degrees.”

The Captain quickly changed the course of the ship.

---

JG: After more than fifty 50 years of a
failed U.S. embargo against Cuba and 20 consecutive years of nearly
universal condemnation of the U.S. by the United Nations General Assembly, the
U.S. ship of state [Titanic?] continues straight ahead with their
foolish foreign relations policies. Will the ship of state hit the
lighthouse in 2013 or will it change course?

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Green Party of the United
States called upon President Obama to end the economic blockade of
Cuba, following a nearly unanimous vote in the United Nations on October
28 condemning the decades-old US policy.

"If President Obama is willing to accept the Nobel Peace prize, he
should show the world that he is committed to peace. The US continues
to impose severe economic hardship on the Cuban people primarily to
attract a small percent of the vote in the Florida Presidential
election. It's time for President Obama and Congress to acknowledge that
the Cold War is long over and rejoin those countries that promote peace
and justice in the international community, said Steve Herrick
co-chair of the Green Party's International Committee.

The Green Party's national platform supports an immediate end to US
sanctions against Cuba, calling the policy a violation of human rights
and an obstacle to the delivery of food and medicine to a sovereign
nation that poses no threat to the US. See "Resolution Opposing US
Intervention in Cuba," December 7, 2003
(http://www.gp.org/position/st_2003_12_07.shtml).

Greens noted that Cuba has the lowest infant mortality rate and the
longest life expectancy rate in Latin America . The World Health
Organization calls Cuba's free health care system "a model for the
world." Cuba also has the highest literacy rate and highest average
educational level in Latin America. Cubans are world leaders in
sustainable development, including organic agriculture and alternative
energy.

These positive changes since 1959 deserve the world's encouragement
and acknowledgment, not punishment. The people of Cuba deserve to be
free from both the external threat of US attack and the internal threat
of political repression. As Greens, we support all possibilities for
greater democracy in Cuba, and we urge that US hostilities towards Cuba
cease," said Sanda Everette, co-chair of the Green Party of the United
States and a member of the International Committee.

Hecklers Interrupt Rubio's Breakfast Speech to Delegates

Marco
Rubio neared the end of his speech, launching into a string of
criticisms of the president, when the first heckler rose.

This was supposed to be an easy crowd. The Florida GOP delegates
woke at the Innisbrook golf resort Tuesday morning and dined on
blueberry pancakes under a chandeliered ceiling, waiting for an address
from the party's rising star.

This was supposed to be a warmup
for Rubio after he drove in from Miami with his four children, stalled
by Tropical Storm Isaac. His big speech is still two days away, when the
world will watch him introduce Mitt Romney in Tampa.

This was supposed to be a sermon for the choir. Only this choir had some uninvited voices.

The
young senator spoke of his hardworking parents. He hailed American free
enterprise as an example for the world to follow. He praised Romney as a
“special human being.”

He paused. A voice rose from the back.

“Hey, Rubio.”

Heads turned.

“We
the working class demand the Republican Party stop whoring themselves
out to special interests,” the heckler said. His voice carried through
the ballroom. Security weaved through the tables toward him.

“I guess he's not happy with the hotel assignment,” Rubio said. “Apparently he stumbled into the wrong convention.”

Back
to his message: Voters who had never supported a Democrat chose Barack
Obama four years ago because they thought he could elevate political
discourse.
“Is there any doubt that those days are gone?” Rubio said.

Another heckler stood. The audience was quicker this time, drowning her out with their own shouts.

“All right,” Rubio said, “where's the hidden camera?”

Then a third heckler: “The Republican agenda doesn't work for America!”

Tables of delegates chanted: MAR-CO, MAR-CO, MAR-CO.

“Please don't say Polo,” Rubio said.

He ended his speech, calling Obama a “divisive figure.”

Delegates
crowded out of the ballroom. Pinellas deputies gathered at least 10
hecklers and gave them trespass warnings. A woman who wouldn't give her
name said she and three others were from Stand Up Florida. On its
website, the group says it supports "good jobs, strong education and
access to affordable healthcare."

The stage cleared. Reporters scrambled outside with notebooks and cameras, then rounded the building in search of Rubio.

Monday, August 27, 2012

HAVANA — What Cuba says it spends on medical services is a fraction of what it costs hospitals to provide the same services in the United States.

A comparison of some medical procedures in the two countries:

- Cost per day for inpatient hospital stay: $5.49 in Cuba; $1,994 in the U.S.

- Inpatient hernia surgery: $14.59 in Cuba; $12,489 in the U.S.

- Hip-fracture repair: $72.15 in Cuba; $14,263 in the U.S.

- Kidney transplant: $4,902 in Cuba; $48,758 in the U.S.

Cuban authorities did not reveal how they calculated their figures, but said careful study was involved.While some medical goods are imported, Cuba produces many medicines and labor costs are significantly lower than in the United States, with one doctor saying Cuban specialists earn $25 a month.Cuban patients also often bring their own sterile bed sheets, hypodermic needles, food and water.

Note: U.S. costs are from 2009.

Sources: Granma; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Cuban figures rely on the official currency exchange rate of 24 Cuban pesos to $1, though officials have never clarified whether that rate can be applied to interpret economic data.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Back in the late 1940's or early 1950's, we used to hide behind curtains and doors in order to be able to listen to what the adults were talking about.

Here is one story that we heard.

Pérez Prado and his band were playing in a Havana ballroom. On a side entrance, all the musicians of the band came and entered the big hall. Each one carried the instrument that he played. The door-man knew most of them, so after looking at the instrument he would let them in.

Here comes this man, dressed in the band uniform, but he had no instrument. He was holding high his index finger and pointing it to heaven. The door-man asked him how come he had no instrument, to which he responded: “I use my finger.”

“What do you mean you use your finger?” the door-man countered.

The musician replied: “At he right time in the song, I stick my finger up Pérez Prado's ass and he yells Huughhh!!!”

Now that you have heard the story about Pérez Prado's famous yell, you may want to listen to it. See the You Tube video below.

(Reuters) - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who has been out of the
public eye for more than two months, is working on a book with
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and is not at death's door, a
pro-government blogger said on Wednesday.

Yohandry Fontana, who often is
first to report official information and viewpoints, attacked a
Barcelona-based blog and other social media for spreading the idea that
Castro, who turned 86 on August 13, is seriously ill, and said there was
"bad news" for them and "the creative boys of the CIA.""Fidel Castro works together with Hugo Chavez on a book that will appear soon," Fontana wrote.

"The
source that confirmed this information also said the Leader of the
Revolution keeps up to date on the position of Ecuador regarding the
case of (Wikileaks founder) Julian Assange, among other national and
international issues that interest him," the blogger said.

Castro
was last heard from publicly on June 19 when he wrote the last of a
series of brief columns, or "reflections," published in Cuban state
press.His last known public
appearance occurred on March 28 when he went to the Vatican embassy in
Havana to meet Pope Benedict during his brief visit to the communist
island.

The
man who took power in the 1959 Cuban revolution and ruled the country
for 49 years has been in declining health since undergoing emergency
surgery in July 2006 for an undisclosed intestinal ailment.

Chavez,
a close Castro ally and Cuba's top benefactor, remarked on his friend's
mental fitness via Twitter on August 13, after calling him to wish him
happy birthday.

"It is impressive
his energy and lucidity. He is an example of will and of revolutionary
perseverance for all. Long live Fidel!!" he tweeted.Chavez made no mention of the book said to be in the works.

The American people already know that
president Barack Obama is quite incompetent when dealing with an
economic environment that can not provide enough jobs for American
citizens.

But what is even more sad are the law
enforcement agencies, like the FBI, who seem even more incompetent
than Obama. Is anyone up to the task?

Quite a few months have gone by since
the midnight fire-bombing of the offices of Airline Brokers in Coral
Gables. The Hate Brigades of the Miami fanatical fascists were
responsible for that event. The FBI promised that there would be an
“investigation.” What are the results of that investigation?
Certainly you have had enough time! Why there have been no arrests?
Where is the beef?

What the FBI needs to do is the same
thing that Cuba did. Infiltrate the organizations that promote the
use terrorism in Miami. Those groups will never be able to “liberate”
Cuba, because they do not have the necessary big cojones
that would be needed to accomplish that almost-impossible and
monumental task.

When the U.S. government, under Barack
Obama, continues to give protection and refuge to a
known international terrorist like Luis Posada Carriles, then we know
that they are not really very interested in fighting homegrown
terrorist organizations in Miami. The administration loves their
money better.

Lyrics

The world is my expense
The cost of my desire
Jesus blessed me with it's future
And I protect it with fire
So raise your fists
And march around
Don't dare take what you need
I'll jail and bury those committed
And smother the rest in greed
Crawl with me into tomorrow
Or I'll drag you to your grave
I'm deep inside your children
They'll betray you in my name

Sleep now in the fire
The lie is my expense
The scope of my desire
The Party blessed me with it's future
And I protect it with fire
I am the Nina The Pinta The Santa Maria
The noose and the rapist
And the fields overseer
The agents of orange
The priests of Hiroshima
The cost of my desire

Sleep now in the fire

For it's the end of history
It's caged and frozen still
There is no other pill to take
So swallow the one
That made you ill
The Nina The Pinta The Santa Maria
The noose and the rapist
The fields overseer
The agents of orange
The priests of Hiroshima
The cost of my desire

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Over the past three years, ten American softball teams have been
invited to Havana for an annual tournament. But no Cuban team has been
allowed to compete on American shores in more than 50 years.

Until now.

This month, senior Cuban softball players will touch down in Boston
to compete in The Friendship Games against senior athletes from the
EMASS League and the Bay State Association.

“We have won some games down there,” said Glenn Shambroom of Natick,
in a press release. “But they have won more. They are great players, and
it’s very tough to win on their home field. We’re ready for a very
competitive series in Boston.”

American players will host their Cuban teammates while they visit –
returning a favor to the Cubans, who have hosted Americans at their
homes.

“We don’t all speak each other’s language, but we all love baseball,
and we have such great times after the games,” said Gary Siegel, of
Needham, in the release.

“They invited us to their homes for dinner, had
an enormous pig roast for us, and did everything imaginable to be
welcoming hosts. We are looking forward to repaying their amazing
hospitality.”

The Cuban team will head to Fenway Park with its American
counterparts from the EMASS Teams on Aug. 25, before the Red Sox v.
Kansas City Royals game at Fenway Park, where Cuban shortstop Tony
Gonzalez will throw the first pitch.

The Friendship Games will kick off with an Opening Ceremony on
Sunday, Aug. 26 at 3:45 at the Robert Cusick Field in Boston Commons.
During the ceremony, participants will take a moment of silence to honor
heavy weight Cuban boxer Teofilo Stevenson, who won three Olympic gold
medals and served as honorary captain of the Cuban softball team until
his passing in June.

The double-header Cuba v. USA game will start at 4 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

Cuban players include Tony Gonzales, considered the greatest fielding
shortstop in Cuban baseball history; Reinaldo Linares, 1967 MVP of the
Cuban National Series; Carlos Cepero, coach of the Cuban National Team
in the World Baseball Classic in 2009; and Armanda Aguilar, a member of
the International Softball Hall of Fame.

The Friendship Games are sponsored by Educational Travel Alliance,
Mass Humanities, Grand Circle Foundation, Boston Sports Club of West
Newton and Clark Shoes.

The Cuban team will be in the Boston area from Aug. 23 through 30.

A full itinerary, courtesy of Educational Travel Alliance, is below.

Friday August 24:

9:30 Players meet at Harvard Faculty Club, 20 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA. There will be a walk around the Harvard Campus.

10:30: There will be a welcome talk at Harvard University given by
Professor Jorge Dominguez, followed by lunch at the Harvard Faculty
Club.

2:30 After lunch, proceed to Cochituate Field in Wayland for practice and pick up games, starting at 3:00,

6: 30 Welcome Barbecue in Holliston at the home of Gary Buxton, 1803
Washington Street Holliston, MA 01746. Guests are requested to bring
their own beverages.

5:45 and not a minute later, Gary Siegel, Glenn Shambroom, Rich
Morris, Tom McColl, Jesse Lipcon, David Kern, Mike Frank, Wally Introne,
Louise Felton, Gary Buxton, Larry Costello, James Rice, and Mike
Eizenberg meet at Gate E on Landsdowne Street, where an ambassador from
the Red Sox will accompany us to the Green Room prior to our being led
onto the field. Be sure to wear tournament uniforms, and perhaps bring a
change of clothes

6:45 - Everyone coming to the game is requested to be seated, and
ready for the first pitch, which will be thrown by Tony Gonzalez.

Sunday August 26:

3:00 All players assigned to the Sunday Game meet for Warm -Ups at
the Robert Cusick Field, Boston Common, Corner of Charles and Boylston
Street in Boston.

3:30 Musicians Arrive

3:45 Opening Ceremony Begins. The National Anthems of Cuba and the
USA are played, and a special guest throws out the Ceremonial First
Pitch.
Monday August 27

10:00 Players Assemble for Duck Boat Tour at the Prudential Center.

11:30 Duck Boat Tour ends, and general exploration of Boston Begins

4:30: A presentation by Professor Ruben Stern about the US Political
System at the Latino Center at Tufts University, 226 College Ave,
Medford, MA

Tuesday August 28

2:30 All Players assigned to the Tuesday game meet at Cochituate Field, Wayland.

Mitt Romney Is Stumping in Miami at Eatery Owned by Convicted Coke Smuggler

Today, Mitt Romney is forgoing a Miami political
campaign tradition by skipping over Versailles restaurant in Little
Havana. Instead, Mittens will hobnob with a convicted cocaine smuggler.
The Republican presidential candidate is holding an afternoon rally at
Palacio de los Jugos (7085 Coral Way), which is owned by Reinaldo
Bermudez, who served three years in federal prison after pleading guilty
in 1999 to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

Bermudez,
AKA "El Guajiro," was a member of 12-person ring that was busted in
1997 for attempting to smuggle more than a ton of yeyo disguised as fish
and soap into three South Florida ports. According to Bermudez's
indictment, some of his co-conspirators had nicknames straight out of a
Hollywood movie, like "Ali Baba," "Skeletor," "Buckwheat," and "Stump."

Reached by telephone, Bermudez tells Banana Republican that the Secret
Service vetted everything about him when the Romney campaign asked to
use his fruit and vegetable stand, one of several he owns in Miami-Dade.

"They
absolutely knew about my record," Bermudez says. "The Secret Service
checked everything. [The conviction] was not a problem. Everybody
deserves a second chance."

Bermudez, who was 38 years old when he
was arrested on the coke charge, was part of a conspiracy to smuggle
248 kilos in two containers filled with fish imported from Trinidad
through the Port of Palm Beach and the Port of Miami, as well as another
1,045 kilos in a container of soap that was shipped from Venezuela to
Port Everglades. Law enforcement authorities learned about the shipments
via court-authorized wiretaps of the defendants' home, office, and cell
phones, according to the indictment.

"Here in Miami there are a
lot of people with money who have had problems with the law," Bermudez
says. "Thankfully, we all have the opportunity in this country to
re-enter society when we've done something wrong."

But
if Bermudez thinks that if Romney gets elected he'll get his voting
rights restored, he is out of luck. In January, during a Republican
presidential debate, then-candidate Rick Santorum pushed Romney to make
the following statement about ex-convicts who have served their time. "I
don't think people who have committed violent crimes should be allowed
to vote," Romney said.

We left a message for Romney's
Florida campaign spokesman, Jess Bechdel, requesting comment. We will
update this post if he gets back to us.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Mitt Romney sought to reassure Cuban-American voters in Florida on Monday that his new running mate Paul Ryan now supports the U.S. embargo of Cuba after opposing it earlier in his congressional career, according to the Univision network.

Ryan's votes and his words still leave questions.

The issue is loaded in the battleground state of Florida, where many
anti-Castro Republican voters oppose efforts to ease the embargo.

A decade ago, Ryan was clear in his opposition to the embargo.

"If we think engagement works well with China, well, it ought to work
well with Cuba," Ryan said in a 2002 interview with the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel. "The embargo doesn't work. It is a failed policy. It
was probably justified when the Soviet Union existed and posed a threat
through Cuba. I think it's become more of a crutch for Castro to use to
repress his people. All the problems he has, he blames the American
embargo."

The fireworks were clearly visible from the coast and lasted about an
hour. People who saw it said they were mystified by its origin.

"It's curious, because you don't see that often on the Malecon," said
Jose Antonio Camejo, who was fishing for red snapper from the seawall
along with family members.

Told it was organized by Cuban exiles from Florida, he shrugged and said, "They must be celebrating something."

[JG: Yes, they were celebrating the welfare checks that they get from Obama for silliness like this!]

The small Florida nonprofit group the Democracy [Made in USA] Movement said earlier
that they would park their vessels 12.5 miles (20 kilometers) from
Havana, safely outside the 12-mile territorial water limits.

The exiles timed the show to coincide with a summer carnival that can
draw thousands to the Malecon, and they called the show a peaceful
display of solidarity with their compatriots.

Cuban authorities scaled back the carnival festivities after
torrential rains Saturday soaked Havana and left huge puddles on the
Malecon. Several hundred people still came out to laugh and canoodle on
the seawall, and families queued up for sizzling barbecue chicken.

One young girl cried out the colors of the fireworks as they exploded: "yellow!" "white!" and "green!"

Like similar previous displays, the fireworks did not elicit any discernible protest from Havana residents.

But the shows are an irritation for the Communist-run government,
which considers them provocative, subversive and even potentially
dangerous. Cuban officials did not respond to requests for comment, but
have criticized Washington in the past for not blocking the actions.

In 1996, the Cuban military shot down two small planes carrying exile
activists, killing four people. Cuba maintains the aircraft violated
the country's airspace, though the exiles deny that.

The exiles said he had been in contact with the U.S. Coast Guard, which
has patrolled previous sea missions to guard against an international
incident, and given assurances that they would remain outside the
12-mile maritime limit.
U.S. officials have said they don't encourage or condone such activities, but lack legal authority to block them.

---

JG: Since 1996 they have not crossed into Cuban territory. If they do: "Plomo con ellos."

Friday, August 10, 2012

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's prime minister and defense minister would like to attack Iran's nuclear sites before the U.S. election in November but lack crucial support within their cabinet and military, an Israeli newspaper said on Friday.

The front-page report in the biggest-selling daily
Yedioth Ahronoth came amid mounting speculation - fuelled by media leaks
from both the government and its detractors at home and abroad - that
war with Iran could be imminent even though it might rupture the bedrock
ties between Israel and the United States.

"Were it up to Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak,
an Israeli military strike on the nuclear facilities in Iran would take
place in the coming autumn months, before the November election in the
United States," Yedioth said in the article by its two senior
commentators, which appeared to draw on discussions with the defense
minister but included no direct quotes.

Spokesmen for Prime Minister Netanyahu and Barak declined to comment.

Yedioth said the top Israeli leaders had failed to win
over other security cabinet ministers for a strike on Iran now, against a
backdrop of objections by the armed forces given the big tactical and
strategic hurdles such an operation would face.

LONDON -- Idalys Ortiz of Cuba won
the women's over 78-kilogram Olympic judo gold on Friday, improving on
the bronze she won at the Beijing Games.

Ortiz defeated Mika
Sugimoto of Japan in a cagey, drawn-out final with little action, where
both fighters struggled to get a grip or catch the other off balance.
The match went into overtime and judges eventually ruled Ortiz the winner.

Earlier in the day, Ortiz triumphed over the competition's top-seeded competitor, Wen Tong of China, in the semifinals.

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